Nico's Little Fan
by Love-And-War1999
Summary: Nico's Leaving Camp and never coming back, just like he promised. There's no one out there that needs him. When he accidently shadow travels to a park in Virginia, he meets a little kid. She offers to help him and he takes it. He thinks it's just for one night and he'll never see her again, but he finds there's no getting rid of her and he wonders if he even wants her to leave.
1. Laurel, Not Lauren

**This is after the battle with Gaea is over. No slash or romance. Just Friendship.**

* * *

**Nico**

I didn't lie to Jason when I told him I was leaving. I meant it and now that everyone is safe from Gaea, the giants, and angry Romans, it was time for me to go. _Nobody will accept me_, I thought,_ I'm just too different. Jason's wrong. Nobody will understand._

I packed a few things from Cabin 13. Not much really, some clothes, Bianca's old green cap she always wore. The Hades figurine was safely in my pocket. I felt a bit guilty that I was leaving Hazel without saying goodbye but I didn't want anyone to change my mind. I had to get away from here as fast as possible. I looked at my cabin one last time before heading out. Then the door opened and in came Jason.

"There you are. Why aren't you celebrating-" That's when he noticed the brown backpack slung over my shoulders, "What are you doing?"

"I already told you what I was going to do, Grace," I said coldly, "I was leaving forever, remember?"

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, Di Angelo," He said blocking my way to the door, "But you're not going anywhere."

"So what? You're going to stop me?" I snorted.

"Okay so maybe I can't stop you, but you won't make it that far when I tell the others and we come searching for you."

"Why do you care so much?!" I yelled at him. He had no right to tell me what to do.

"Because I consider you my friend, even if you don't think the same about me and friends look out for each other."

"Just get out of the way!" I shove past him, but he manages to wrestle me to the ground. "GET OFF ME!"

"You can't run away from your problems," he says, looking dead-serious.

"I can't if you don't let me!"

"We can work this out," he insists. I stop struggling because I know he's too stubborn.

I sigh, "Look, I get that you want to do the right thing and help me out, but I just need to go."

"No, you don't." I can't argue with this guy. The only way to escape this is to just shadow travel, but first I had to get Jason off me. I sigh like I'm defeated.

"Fine, but I'm not going to the celebration." Jason smiles and gets up.

"It'll be fun. Come on, give me your hand," he extends his hand towards me. I take it, get up, and shove him harshly only for him to end up on the floor again.

"What the-"

I run into the nearest shadow and travel who knows where because I was rushed and couldn't form the picture of the place I wanted to go. When that happens, usually I end up in someplace random. The last time it happened, I ended up in the middle of a pool party somewhere in Tennessee. They called the police but I got out of there in time before the authorities arrived.

Now here I was, shadow travelling blindly. I finally find myself laying on grass. I feel dizzy but I manage to get up. I'm in some kind of park. Little kids were screaming and running all over the place, with parents or older siblings running after them. Families were having picnics, people were walking their dogs, and kids were all over the playground area.

Nobody seemed to notice that I had just popped out from the shadows of the woods behind me. I wasn't exactly sure where I was, but I knew that Jason and everyone else would be searching for me, so I had to lay low for a while until they gave up and assumed I've gone to the underworld. To be honest, I didn't want to go back there. My father wasn't that cruel to me anymore but he wasn't the typically loving dad and Persephone still wasn't too fond of me. I was about to make a run into the woods when I saw a little girl, just three feet away from me sitting on the ground, staring at me with her big hazel eyes.

I looked at her a bit confused. She didn't look intimidated by me, which was odd since I practically radiated death. She couldn't of been more than six years old with light brown hair that went all the way to her shoulders. Her bangs almost covered her eyes. I realized that we'd been looking at each other for at least a minute. I broke eye contact and started walking into the woods.

"Wait!" I heard a voice behind me. If I hadn't been so surprised, I would've ignored whoever it was. I turned around and saw the same little girl.

"What?" I asked, not bothering to hide my annoyance.

"How'd you do that?" she asked me.

"Huh?"

"You just came out of that tree. How did you do that?"

"None of your business," I said and continued to walk, but the girl followed me.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere."

"Why are you going nowhere?"

"Because."

"Because why?" The little girl was starting to get really annoying. She asked too many questions. Then I remembered when I used to do that.

"You know what?" I stopped walking. "Where are your parents? You shouldn't be here alone."

"I don't have parents. The agent people said that I have to stay with Kevin and Carol. They're my new parents until who knows when, but I snuck out because Zack hates me and he won't stop being mean to me," She told me while pouting.

"Who's Zack?"

"That's my new brother, but he says that I'm stealing Kevin and Carol from him."

"Okay, well, I'm sure you and him can work it out now go away."

"But I don't want to go back yet!" She complained, "And you haven't answered my question yet." I continued to walk faster with her hot on my heels, but I figured that if I ignored her long enough, she'd leave me alone and go back to whatever she was doing.

"By the way, my name's Laurel. You know, like the tree. What's yours? I'm six years old and my birthday's in April 27. How about you?" Laurel rambled on. It was like this for 10 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, that's enough. Look, Lauren, I-"

"It's Laurel. LORE-L" She interrupted.

"Whatever. I have to find somewhere to spend the night and I can't have a little kid following me around."

"You can stay with me!" She suggested.

"No way. If I go with you, your family will call the police and then I'll end up in an orphanage."

"Kevin, Carol, and Zack aren't my family. You don't have parents either?"

"No, I don't." I said sadly. "The point is that it's getting dark and Calvin and Taylor-"

"Kevin and Carol."

"Yeah them, will be worried so you should go home."

"Where are you going to go?" She asked.

"I don't know yet."

"I know. There's a shed that we barely go in. You can stay there. Nobody will notice."

"As much as I like the idea," I said sarcastically, " I don't think so."

"Please! I want to help you! Please, Please, PLEASE!" She continued on saying the same word over again. _This girl has strong lungs,_ I thought as I covered my ears.

"Alright! Fine, I'll go, but only if you shut up." I tell her.

"Yay! Come on, let's go," She says excitingly and drags me by the arm out the woods and into a neighborhood.

* * *

We jumped the fence into a huge backyard with a pool, a huge maple tree in a corner with a tire swing and a patio.

"Are you sure this is where you live?" I ask Laurel.

She nods, "Yeah, it's this way." She's still holding on to my hand. I've tried to pull it away several times since the walk but, for a six year old, she has an iron grip. We hurry to the farthest corner of the backyard where a small shed is. It's definitely old and worn down. The white paint is peeling. I open the creaky door. There's not much inside. Some gardening tools carelessly tossed in here to be forgotten but it doesn't look too bad.

"I guess I could stay here for tonight." I said. "But just tonight."

"Where are you going after this?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. So where am I?"

"My house. I thought I made that clear to you."

"No I mean what state?'

"You don't know? Well that's weird. We're in Virginia."

"Oh," I sit down on the cold floor, "I need to go farther."

"Are you running from something?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"What?"

I don't really want to tell this little girl. She wouldn't understand. I remembered what Jason said, "My problems."

"Okay. I'll go back inside," Laurel pointed at the house, "Goodnight...uh, what's your name?"

"Don't worry about it." I tell her. She looks like she wants to argue with me, but she just leaves. I watch her as she opens a little window that probably leads to the basement and slips inside. I don't even know why I'm here, but I don't see why not. The shed looks okay for now. I close the door all the way and get ready for an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

**This is my first Fanfic so it might not be very good. Review are appreciated and Thanks for reading. :)**

**-Angela R.**


	2. The Boy in Black

**I just thought that we should learn a bit about Laurel Horwood.**

**-Angela R.**

* * *

**Laurel**

I quickly, yet carefully, climbed down. I find myself in the basement. The lights are still on like I left them. I walk up the stairs, turn the lights off and hurry up to my room. I hadn't been at the park very long. Zack was being a jerk as usual, always making fun of me about how I was a crybaby and a scaredy-cat. Ever since I got here, he's never liked me. I don't get why he acts so immature. He's like 10.

I'm just glad that nobody noticed that I sneaked out. I lie on my bed and look up at the ceiling. Kevin and Carol were really nice people but I wanted my real mommy. She died a year ago in some kind of freak storm accident in Manhattan or at least that's what the police told me. Nobody really knows what happened to her. I was in my old house in Florida with Hannah, one of my mom's friends, taking care of me while mom went to some business trip in New York. She never came back and that's when they started moving me from house to house.

I don't cry anymore but I wished she wasn't gone. I never knew daddy, either, but mom said he was handsome and had a cheeky personality, but he had to leave. I got up from my bed, tired of thinking of the past and looked out my window to see the little shed in the backyard. The boy was very weird. He looked so sad and lonely and wore to much black. He also magically came out of a tree, so how was I going to ignore that. I wondered what his name was and why he was by himself. I hoped he was comfortable in the shed but it was a bit chilly tonight and he looked so skinny. Since when had he eaten?

"Laurel! Time for dinner!" I heard Carol from downstairs. I hurried down the stairs and made my way to the dining room. I sat down next to Zack, even though I really didn't want to.

"Hey, ugly," He said.

"Now Zack!" Carol chided.

"What?" He asked like he didn't do anything wrong. I just rolled my eyes.

"Now Zack, it's been a month now," Kevin told him, "When are you going to stop being so childish and warm up to Laurel." Zack stayed silent.

"Kids, go wash your hands," Carol said.

"Aw, but mom!" Zack whined. I got up from the table and headed to the sink in the kitchen. Zack followed. While we were washing our hands, he was being annoying, as usual.

"I don't care what they say. I think you're ugly," He said. _This from the boy with messy black hair and crooked teeth,_ I think. But I don't say that.

"Whatever," I said instead.

"Yeah, and you're stupid too." I hurry back to the table because Zack knows he can't call me names in front of his parents. We had spaghetti today. It was really good, but I was still worried about the boy in black. Was he still there? Was he cold? Had he eaten anything? My mind was so focused on the boy that I remained quiet for most of dinner.

"Are you okay, Laurel?" Carol asked, concerned.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You haven't said anything," Kevin explained.

"Sorry, it's just that I met this boy." I started.

"Laurel has a boyfriend! Laurel has a boyfriend!" Zack chanted.

"No! He's not my boyfriend!" I said angrily, "He was weird. He popped out of a tree."

"Now, Laurel, honey," _Here it comes,_ I thought, "You know that's not possible."

"But I saw it," I insist.

"Remember when you said you saw a horse with wings in the sky?" Kevin asked.

"There was a horse flying!"

"You're crazy," Zack muttered. I stopped talking all together. No one ever believed me. How could they not see what I saw? We finished dinner and got ready for bed. I put on my yellow pajamas. I always liked bright colors.

"Hey, scaredy-cat," Zack poked his head in my room, 'Got your nightlight on yet?"

"Get out of here, Zack!" I almost screamed and threw a teddy bear at him. He closed the door and ran away laughing. It wasn't my fault I hated the dark. I preferred the light. At least when everything is lit up, you know that there's nothing hiding somewhere in the darkness. I turned on my nightlight that was near me bed and got under the covers.

There was a knock on my door. "Come in," I said. Carol came in the room.

"Hey, Laurel," She said gently. She tucked me in and kissed my forehead. "Goodnight, sweetie."

"Goodnight Carol," I told her. She looked a bit upset. I guess she wanted me to call her mom but I couldn't. My real mom was Daphne Horwood. She left the room and closed the door behind her. I didn't go to sleep. I waited until midnight. I couldn't just let the boy in black (That was my nickname for him. He just wore too much of it) starve or freeze to death. I silently grabbed a sweater from my closet, put on my slippers, and grabbed my Care-Bear backpack. I stuffed my green, fuzzy blanket in it. I slowly opened the door with my flashlight turned on and went to the kitchen. I grabbed some cookies and chips. Things he could take and not get spoiled. I took some of Zack's juice boxes just because I was still mad at him for calling me crazy and dropped them in my pack. I unlocked the back door and walked to the shed.


	3. Actually, It's Nico

**I'm so happy that you guys liked it that I decided to post a new chapter ASAP. :D By the way, I made sure that Nico had a reason to stay for a little longer, but that won't be revealed until the next chap.**

** And just to clarify, Laurel isn't Bianca (I actually didn't think of that), she's actually a little girl that can see through the mist, or is she? **

**Hmm... **

**Just messing around. **

**Or am I?**

** Hmm... **

**Okay. I'll stop. :)**

**-Angela R.**

* * *

**Laurel**

Half way to the shed, the feeling of fear went through me. The backyard was really dark. Scary shadows lurked around and the moon didn't illuminate much. I had to remain strong. I continued to walk until I made it to the door of the shed. I opened it and all of a sudden the boy in black sprung out a black sword at me and I tripped while jumping back. I fell on my butt.

"Ow!" I said, "What's with the sword?" The boy in black looked confused for a second.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"Sorry. I just thought that you were hungry so I brought you some food."

"I'm not hungry," He said, but then his stomach growled. I giggled.

"Okay, maybe I'm a bit hungry," He murmured. I went inside the shed and he closed the door behind him. I righted up my flashlight to give the place more light. I unzipped my backpack and took out the junk food and juice boxes.

"Thanks," He said and we both sat down on the floor.

"These cookies are really good." He commented.

"Yeah, Carol made them. She'll ask who ate them in the morning, but don't worry, I'll tell her I ate them." I reassured him.

"Won't you get in trouble?" I just shrugged.

"It's cold here. I brought you a blanket if you want it," I took it out. He looked hesitant. "It's clean." For the first time since I met him, I saw a trace of a smile play on his lips. He took it from me and wrapped it around himself.

"So, why are you carrying a sword?" I asked. I couldn't help it that I was curious. Besides, he was the one being all mysterious.

"You can see the sword?" He asked.

"Yeah, at least I think it's a sword. I saw one or two kids with swords a few months ago, but when I told my teacher, she said they were carrying baseball bats."

"I wouldn't think about it too much. Stuff like that happens a lot."

"Has it happened to you?"

"Yeah."

"So I'm not blind?" I was so happy there was someone else like me.

"No, it's the opposite, you see too well."

"That doesn't make sense."

"And that's why I won't bother explaining."

"You can keep the rest of the food, boy in black," I said and gave him the rest of the stuff.

"Boy in black?"

"Well, I don't know your name so..."

"Very original," He rolled his eyes.

"Thanks," I still told him, even though I knew he was being sarcastic.

"I just don't understand something," He said under his breath, but I heard him.

"What?" I asked. He stayed silent or a while. Did he hear me?

"Why are you helping me?" I honestly wasn't so sure myself.

"I don't know," I answered.

"Didn't anyone teach you to not talk to strangers?"

"But I don't think you're dangerous."

"Are you sure about that?" He frowned. I started thinking. Before he randomly came out of that tree, I was looking at squirrels all over the place and then he popped out. The squirrels ran away franticly like he was going to hurt them or something. I heard that animals had instincts that told them when trouble was near or something like that. I actually didn't feel threatened by him. When we looked at each other, I could see in his eyes that he wasn't going to do anything to me. I didn't trust many people because of all the things I saw, but I didn't think his intentions were to cause me harm.

"I'm not sure why I'm helping you." I shrugged again. "But I meant that you're not dangerous to me. Like, you would hurt me if you wanted to, but you won't."

"How do you know I won't" He challenged.

"You would've done it already, right? Or you would've left by now." He relaxed.

"You're smart for a six year old." He commented.

"My mom used to tell me that."

"You should go back to sleep," He told me. I was disappointed that he wanted me to leave, but I got up and grabbed my flashlight.

"Um, I feel stupid asking this, but do you really need the flashlight?" I looked at him.

"Yes, why? Are you scared of the dark too?"

"No, it's just that...I don't..." He stopped. I smiled. How did a boy who wore black not like the dark.

"You can have my flashlight, but I don't want to go in the dark." I didn't know if he would accept but I asked anyway, "Could you take me?"

"What, in the house?"

"It's dark inside, too." He kept quiet. "You can't have the flashlight unless I have light so I don't trip on stuff when I go back." He sighed and opened the door. For a second, I thought he was going to kick me out.

Instead he said, "Lets go." I smiled widely and took his hand. He tried pulling it away again but it was no use. I wasn't letting go. With him beside me, it wasn't as scary. I heard an owl and instantly held on to the boy. He stiffened and stopped walking.

"It was a bird," He said, "Now let go."

"Sorry," I muttered, but grabbed his hand. We continued to walk until we got to the backdoor. He stopped. "What?" I asked.

"What if your foster parents wake up and see me?"

"So that's what they're called. Don't worry, everyone is a heavy sleeper. It's kind of funny, really." I told him. I remember when I woke up to get a glass of water and I accidently dropped it while coming upstairs. The sound hadn't waken up anyone and I had to go wake up Kevin and Carol.

"Okay," He nodded and we went inside. Thanks to the flashlight, we easily made our way to my room.

"Okay we're here, now can I have the flashlight?" The boy in black asked.

"Sure," I gave it to him, "Wait, let me give you some batteries." I started looking around one of my drawers for spare batteries while he looked around my room. "Found some," I said aloud. I turned around and saw the boy looking at a picture on my bedside table.

"Who's this?" He asked. I went up to him to see who's picture he was talking about.

"That's my mom's the last picture of her that I have." I said sadly.

"I don't have any pictures of my family anymore," He said. "You miss her a lot, don't you?"

"The police don't know what happened to her. I think she's still alive." The boy looked like he knew she wasn't coming back but didn't want to crush my hopes.

"Maybe she is alive," He said, but he didn't sound like he meant it. He put down the picture. I gave him the batteries and yawned.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep," I said and got into bed. The boy was about to leave but I stopped him, "Could you...tuck me in, please?" he looked like he was torn for a moment, but finally, he actually did tuck me in.

"Goodnight, boy in black," I said as he handed me my teddy that had fallen from my bed.

He nodded and just before he went out the door, I heard him say, "Actually, it's Nico. Goodnight, Laurel." _Nico?_ I thought, _That's a nice name_. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.


	4. Guilty Conscience

**Since both Laurel and Nico don't like the dark very much, I decided to put a quote about light on each chap. from now on. It's kind of random so it's not going to summarize the chapter or anything. So here goes:**

**"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light."**

**~Plato (He was a Greek philosopher)**

* * *

**Nico**

I knew who that woman was. I remember seeing her while I was fighting with Kronos' army that day in Manhattan. I was fighting monsters all around me when I heard a woman scream. I turned around to see a woman who looked just like Laurel. I didn't understand why she was awake because Hypnos had made everyone fall asleep. She was looking horrified at the scene before her. That's when the monsters noticed her. I was going to go help her, but I was already trying to kill an Empousai. The woman stood no chance and ran for it. Unfortunately, she fell in the abyss that Kronos had created around the Empire State building. I could feel her death as her soul found it's way to Charon.

I hadn't thought about it too much since it happened, not even when I was Laurel. Now, I feel like it was my fault for not saving her that Laurel really thinks her mom's coming back. I couldn't understand how the woman hadn't fallen asleep, but then again, she hadn't been the only one. Rachel also wasn't affected. Maybe Laurel's mom could see through the Mist and that's how it happened, but it didn't matter anymore. She was dead. Laurel couldn't know, at least not yet.

For now, as much as I hated my conscience for this, I was going to stay for as long as I could. I felt responsible for her now and I couldn't just leave her, believing her mother was one day going to come back and take her away. _What did I get myself into?_ I thought.

I made my way to the shed I figured would be my new room until further notice. I made sure to close the backdoor of the house and into the shed. I closed the door and sat back down while wrapping the fuzzy blanket around me. I picked up the food Laurel gave me and packed it in my brown bag. I noticed she forgot her girly backpack. I turned on the flashlight and righted up to illuminate the shed. It was true that I didn't like the dark. In fact, I hated it. Sure I was the son of Hades and everything but total darkness freaked me out. I get the feeling of being trapped in a place I don't even know because there's nothing. Just black. When there's light, there's also shadows and I can used them to escape something.

I don't mind the creepy shadows, but I don't like to feel helpless. I didn't like that I was going to stay here. I should be moving farther away from here. I was thinking that Italy was a good place. I always wanted to go, but I never seemed to find the time. Now I can't because I have Laurel to take care of first._ As soon as I tell her, I'll leave_, I tell myself, H_er foster parents will care for her_. I start to fall asleep only to dream a nightmare.

* * *

_I found myself in underground in the city of Split again. I never thought I'd hate the underground. My legs started shaking uncontrollably again. I wished that Jason was here. I'd take Leo Valdez at this point. Then Cupid's deep, threatening laugh bounced of the cave walls. _

_"Nico Di Angelo!," He mocked, "Still running, I see."_

_"Leave me alone! I already confessed!" I yelled at the ceiling. _

_"Have you not learned anything from this? No matter where you go, you can't escape Love!" _

_"SHUT UP!" I covered my ears as I fell on my knees. Then I felt a piercing pain on my shoulder. I screamed. It was the same kind of pain that I felt when that invisible arrow went through my arm and dissolved, leaving no wound but left emotional sorrow, heartbreak and misery all rolled up into one razor-blade arrow. The cave disappeared and there was total blackness. No light to show me where I was, no sunshine to tell me a way out and no shining star to guide me out of the shadows of hell that I called my life._

* * *

I opened my eyes and was confused for a second until I remember what happened yesterday. Right, the kid. I slowly get up and stretch. My back hurts from the floor and the light from the flashlight is dim. I quickly turn it off. At least sunlight comes from the dusty windows of the shed. I took the blanket off me, neatly folded it, and put it on top of my bag in a corner.

I wondered what I was going to do. I couldn't exactly go into the house and wait for Laurel there. I sat down and I put my hands in my pockets. I gripped the Hades statue with my right hand. I felt paper in my other pocket. I took it out and inside were 2 hundred dollar bills. _I don't remember packing money_, I thought. I shrugged and put them back in my pocket. I sat back down and played with Bianca's old cap. I wasn't sure when Laurel would be coming.

**Laurel**

I headed for the bathroom as usual. I was going to brush my teeth, get changed and ask to go to the backyard. When I got to the bathroom, Zack was coming out with his signature grin that meant that he had done something. He chuckled as I walked in the bathroom. What's his problem? I looked for my toothbrush but it wasn't where I always put it. I groaned, "Zack." I looked around and found my pink toothbrush in the toilet. I slumped my shoulders. That was my third one this month. At least the toilet hadn't been used, but I was still not going to use that again. I took out a glove from the cabinet and took out my old brush and threw it away.

I quickly went to my room and got my last toothbrush out._ I swear, if Zack does that again I'm telling on him_, I thought angrily as I brushed my teeth. I looked around for a nice shirt. I just couldn't decide because there were so many to choose from. I finally picked a neon orange shirt and a pair of white shorts. I combed my hair and ran to the kitchen. Kevin was reading the newspaper on the couch and Carol was washing dishes.

"Laurel, where are you going?" Carol asked me.

"I wanted to go outside," I told her.

"Not before eating your breakfast."

"I'm not that hungry."

"Sit, Laurel and I'll make you some eggs."

I sighed in defeat, "Fine." I quickly ate my eggs and orange juice. "Done. Can I go outside now?" I asked, impatiently.

"Sure, but take Zack with you," Kevin said, "And stay in the backyard." Zack sneered at me.

"Come on then," I told him and we went to the backyard.

"Okay, remember the rules?" He asked me. When I first got here, he had explained a bunch of rules that were mostly to not touch anything that was his.

"Yes," I rolled my eyes. " I can't touch the pool, I can't touch the tire swing, I can't touch your bike, and I can't go in your tree house."

"Good," Zack nodded, "You can have the shed, though. There's nothing in there."

"Well, you know what, that'll be my tree house and you can't go in it," I snapped at him.

"Go ahead, it's full of trash and dust anyway." And Zack ran to the maple tree. I smiled at him because he didn't know Nico was in the shed. I hurried over to it and opened the door. Nico was just casually sitting on the floor, holding a green cap.

"Hey," I said.

He looked up at me, "Hey. You took a long time in there."

"Don't get me wrong Nico," I felt so happy that I could call him by his real name, "But didn't you say that you were going to leave?" He averted his eyes.

"I figured that since I don't really have a plan yet, I should just stay here," but then quickly added, "For now."

"Really?" I asked. He nodded slowly. I started jumping up and down, for some reason happy.

"Yay! You're going to stay!" I cheered. I barely noticed the guilty look he was giving me.

* * *

**Comment if you can, thanks for reading this. **

**-Angela R.**


	5. A Baby?

**" It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."**

~Eleanor Roosevelt

* * *

**Nico**

I didn't understand why she was so suddenly happy that I was staying. She didn't even know me! I couldn't let her think that I was going soft on her because I wasn't! I had to keep her at arm's length or else she wouldn't want me to leave, but mostly because I wouldn't want to go.

"Don't get too excited," I said, "As soon as I have a plan, I leave. If I stay here, they people I'm running from will find me."

"Oh," She didn't look as excited anymore. "What exactly are you running away from?"

"I already told you."

"Yeah, but are they people that hurt you?" I stayed silent. I wasn't going to start talking about my problems to a six year old. "Well, okay, you don't have to tell me now." She went back to her bubbly self.

"Sure. You left your bag here," I said and handed her the ridiculously girly thing.

"Oh thanks," She said and slung it over her shoulders. "So are you going to tell me how you popped out of the tree?"

"I didn't come out of the tree."

"It looked like you did."

"I actually came out from the shadow of the tree." I explained.

"Really? That's so cool! Can I do that? I want to try! What do I do?" She started getting excited again.

"You can't do it." I said simply.

"How do you know?"

"It's too hard to explain."

"That again. You act like I'm dumb or something. I'm not!"

"It's not that I think you're dumb, it's just that it's too complicated."

"Fine," She huffed and sat next to me. "So what do you do for fun?" She asked._ I talk to dead people_, I thought but I couldn't tell her that.

"When I was a kid, I played Mythomagic," I told her.

"I know what that is!" She said suddenly, "I see those in the stores all the time! It's about Greek gods and monsters."

"Yeah, but I got too old for that stuff." We sat there talking or about half an hour, or to be more accurate, Laurel talked for half an hour until we heard Carol calling for them to come inside.

"Looks like I have to go back," She said.

"Okay, I'll take a walk around town." She suddenly looked worried, "I'll come back." Her frown quickly disappeared.

"Have fun, bye, Nico," Laurel waved and got out the shed.

**Laurel**

_He likes Mythomagic_, I thought in my head. I couldn't picture a guy like Nico to like to play card games. Before I opened the backdoor, Zack pushed me out of the way and went inside.

"Hey!" I protested. He merely stuck his tongue out. I followed him inside.

"Kids, get ready." Carol said as she put a jacket on.

"Where are we going?" Zack asked, " I want to play on my Wii."

"We're going to the store to buy groceries," Carol explained.

"Oh mom! I don't want to go to the store," Zack whined. Carol ignored his complaining and soon, everyone was in Kevin's white car, heading to the store.

* * *

"Mom, can we buy this?"

"Dad, I want that."

"Mom, we haven't bought this yet," These were some of the million whines of Zack. Didn't he ever shut up? I never asked or anything, mostly because I didn't want to sound like a whiny idiot, like Zack.

"Zachary Madison, we can't buy every little thing you want." Carol said.

"You can only get one thing, so just choose," Kevin told him. "You can get something, too, Laurel. If you want." Zack and I looked at each other. Then at the same time we made a run for the toy section. I haven't gotten a toy in a while. I went to the girls section while Zack made a beeline to the sports equipment. He wanted to be a famous baseball player or something.

I looked at the shelves filled with toys. I didn't want anything expensive, just something to keep me occupied for a while. Then a noticed a friendship bracelet kit. I always loved making those. I'd have about ten bracelets on each of my arms, if I had enough to make them. _I could make Nico one,_ I thought.

"Seriously? Bracelets?" Zack came from behind me holding two boxes under each of his arms.

"Shut up. I like them," I said.

"Whatever, look what I got," He showed me the boxes, "A remote control race car and a remote control dinosaur."

"you have to get one."

"Well, I'm getting both of them," he glared at me.

"Fine." We went to look for Kevin and Carol.

"Zack, I said one," Kevin said.

"Please! I want them both! I can't choose!" Zack pleaded. He kept on begging until his parents finally gave in.

"Fine," Kevin exclaimed, "You can have both. Laurel get something else to make it even."

"It okay, I don't-" I stopped mid-sentence and noticed a pack of cards behind Kevin and Carol. I grabbed a packet.

"That game's stupid!" Zack observed, "That's for geeks."

"No it's not!" I retorted, "You're probably just saying that 'cause you can't play." Nico didn't look like a geek. Besides, I was sure he would like it. Sure he said that he didn't play with them anymore, but that didn't stop me from dumping the cards in the cart.

* * *

**Nico**

I hurried back to the backyard of Laurel's house. Thanks to a couple of Harpies that I ran into, I couldn't look around more of the town to see if there were any scouts from Camp. I'm really exhausted from fighting the monsters. When I jumped the fence, I saw that the car was already parked in front of the house and the door to the shed was open. I slowly made my way to the shed and saw Laurel sitting in the middle of the floor, her back towards me.

"Laurel?" I asked. She turned around suddenly. Tears streamed down her face and her eyes were red. She quickly wiped her nose with her sleeve.

"Nico!" She cried with joy and hugged me by the waist. "I thought you were gone. I didn't see your bag or anything and thought you left." She was happy to see me?

"I told you I wasn't leaving yet," I said, scowling. Didn't this kid know about personal space? "Will you get off me already?"

"Oh, sorry," but she didn't stop hugging me until she had calmed down. "Anyway, I got you something."

"What?" She took out a pack of cards that looked strangely familiar. "Is that Mythomagic?" She nodded. I had to admit that my hand twitched a bit. I totally hadn't gotten over the game, but I shook my head.

"I don't play anymore." Laurel looked disappointed. The look she was giving me made me feel guilty that I rejected the cards. I took the cards from her hands. "I guess I could hang on to them for a while."

"What happened to you?" She asked. I might've gotten scratched up a little while fighting the Harpies.

"Not important."

"Alright, but you should get that cleaned up," She said as she studied the six inch long cut across my left leg.

"I'm fine, Laurel."

"You could get an infection of something. Don't worry, I'll get the alcohol," She raced to the house again.

"No really, I'm-" but she was already through the door. I looked at my torn jeans. The harpy had gotten me good. The wound was scabbing and a mixture of blood and pus was slowing seeping from it. It looked really gross and I didn't think that showing a little girl this was a good idea. Laurel came back with a first aid kit.

"Okay, Nico, just sit down and I'll take care of it," Laurel grinned at me.

"Uh, you know, you don't have to. I can do it myself," I said.

"I can do it, honest," she pouted.

"It's not just a scratch, Laurel. Pus is oozing out and everything." I waited for her to cringe or be grossed out but she didn't.

"I can take it. I know how to do this, please?" After trying to protest, she got me to sit down and pull my jeans up to reveal my wound. I waited for her to say something like it was gross or something, but it didn't seem to phase her. "This might hurt a tiny bit," She said as she wet a piece of cloth with alcohol. As soon as the cloth made contact with my skin, I had to grit my teeth to keep from screaming. "Stop whining. It's not that bad." She said.

"Easy for you to say," I argued. After cleaning the wound she wrapped my leg with a white bandage.

"There. All done."

"How'd you know to do that?" I asked.

"My mommy was studying to be a nurse, but she got rejected from college. She would always tell me random medical facts and I guess they just stuck. When I get older, I want to be a nurse."

"Well, good for you." I told her. "Don't you have to go inside or something?"

"You want me t leave?"

"It's been a rough day and I think I'll turn in early."

"Oh...Okay. Bye Nico," She waved at me and left.

**Laurel**

After I'd helped Nico, I went back inside to the living room and was just coloring while Zack was on his Nintendo DS, sticking his tongue out while he jerked the device to the left and then to the right, like it would somehow help him win. He was so stupid. Then we heard a shriek from upstairs. Me and Zack both jumped up.

"What was that?" I looked at Zack.

"Mom," He said. "Let's go," and we ran upstairs. I was expecting some sort of break in or a fire, but what we found were Kevin and Carol hugging each other while Carol held on to a small light blue and white plastic flat stick thing that I'd never seen before.

"It came out positive!" She giggled.

"Uh...what's going on?" Zack spoke up. We were standing right outside their door.

"Kids!" Kevin said, grinning at us, "We have something important to tell you." Carol looked like she was getting teary-eyed.

"You tell them honey," He told Carol.

"Alright," Carol calmed down, "Well...you see kids...the thing is that...well..."

"She's going to have another baby!" Kevin blurted out.

"A baby?" Zack muttered.

"That's awesome!" I cheered. I pulled Zack in and we had a group hug.

"A baby?" Zack repeated, like he was still in shock, but I was the only to hear him because Kevin and Carol were laughing and already guessing on what the baby was going to be.


	6. Family Problems

**"Give light and people will find the way."**

**~Ella Baker**

**There's not a lot of Nico/Laurel interaction but I need this for something so, yeah, just warning you.**

**-Angela R.**

* * *

**Laurel**

A sudden bang from Zack's room woke me up with a start. _Why is he still up_, I thought as I looked at my clock on my bedside table. It said 11:54 pm. I decided to investigate because usually, Zack was snoring like an elephant. I went to the hallway and noticed the lights still on from the crack on his door. I opened it slightly and noticed him pacing around the room, not looking very happy.

"Why are you up?" I asked. "It's late and what'd you throw at the wall? It woke me up."

"None of your business!" he growled at me.

"Your fault for waking me up," I whispered, went inside his room and closed the door behind me. His room was really messy. Legos, toy cars and action figures littered the floor, along with the occasional dirty clothes.

"Get out of here!" He choked. That's when I noticed his eyes were red and teary.

"Are you...okay?" I asked. I never thought I'd ask that to Zack but seeing him choke back a sob, made me feel sympathy for him.

"I'm fine. Just...just leave me alone," he whimpered as he sat down on the floor and hugged a worn brown stuffed cat. I didn't know Zack still had stuffed animals. He always told me that they were for little three year olds. I walked up to him and sat down beside him.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I call him Jacob," his voice sounded almost hollow. "I had him since I was little."

"Why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad!" he hissed at me.

"So you're crying because you're happy. Well that makes sense," I rolled my eyes.

He sighed, "I just don't want another brother or sister."

"Why not? They're cute, and pudgy and adorable-"

"Exactly!"

"I don't get it."

"I just don't want to share my parents, okay?"

"That's it? That's why you're sad? A baby isn't going to ruin your life, Zack!"

"How would you know?" He accused me, "How do you think I feel? I never asked for a brother or sister. Not after mom and dad adopted you!"

"So now this is my fault?" He couldn't be blaming me for this. I didn't ask to get adopted.

"Yes, your fault. Just think if you were me for just a second. Imagine coming home from school and to suddenly see some girl you know nothing about, sitting on the couch in our living room. And your parents are telling you that she's going to be your new little sister. Then their attention is all on her. Making sure she's comfortable, let's buy her more clothes, let's take her out more. And you're just there, being ignored." He glared at me and held tighter to his stuffed cat.

"I never knew you felt like that," I said. If someone just came into my life and suddenly my mom was paying her more attention, I had to admit that I'd probably act the same way as Zack. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to steal your parents."

"Now, mom and dad will be too busy to pay attention to me anymore." He said miserably.

"That's not true!" I argued, "Kevin and Carol would never forget you!"

"I'm not so sure." He said and looked at the ground. I put my hand on his shoulder but he jerked it away.

"Please go away." He sniffed as a tear rolled down his cheek. I wanted to make him feel better but he didn't want my help and I couldn't really do anything about it. I silently left his room and went back to my bed.

I didn't go to sleep that night and I had the feeling that Zack didn't either. He thought that I had stolen his life, his family. I never meant to hurt him like that. I wondered if I hadn't been adopted and Zack and I met each other, would we have been friends then? I wanted to make it up to him. Besides, Kevin and Carol weren't my parents. I was still holding on to my real mom, Daphne Horwood. I needed to remind myself of her name from time to time, just so I wouldn't forget. I didn't know how I could make it up to Zack. Suddenly, I wanted to be his friend. He's always been mean to me, calling me names, pushing me around but now I knew it wasn't because he was just a jerk.

* * *

**Nico**

I should stop sleeping all together. Nightmares seem to be the only things I dream about, but I couldn't stay awake. I was too tired and I nodded off.

_I was in cabin three. I was aware that I was dreaming but I couldn't control what I said or did in the dream. Percy was standing in front of me. _

_"Why did you help me out, Nico? I thought you hated me," He said._

_"I had to," I answered. _

_Percy shook his head, "No you didn't. You risked your own life and you don't usually do that for someone you hate." I started feeling frustrated at Percy. Did he seriously not understand yet? "Piper told me." I froze, fear rushing through me veins. Had she figured it out and told Percy? "If this was about Annabeth-" _

_"She has nothing to do with anything!" I snapped. Of course he wouldn't know. Only one person knows and he wouldn't just go telling people, right?_

_"It doesn't?" Percy look confused, "But, I thought that you had a cru-"_

_"Not on HER. I didn't do anything for her. Never had, never did." I wanted to stop myself from talking but I couldn't, "I did it for...you."_

_"Me? But you hate me!"_

_That's when I got angry. I tried really hard to shut up, to bite my tongue to keep me from saying anything else but I failed miserably, "I did all that stuff because I love you, Percy Jackson! I had ever since I met you. You're the reason I ran away. You're the reason I never stayed at camp. You're the reason why I helped in anything! Because I love you!" I yelled. Percy just stood there, shocked. I tried to run away. Shadow Travel away from here, but my body didn't cooperate. Instead I surged forward. I was so close to kissing him when the door swung open. _

_"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Annabeth demanded. The rest of the seven filled in the room. They surrounded me. _

_"Were you going to kiss him?" Frank asked._

_"You're gay? Gross!" Leo said. _

_"No...I was...he..." I stammered to get a sentence out. An explanation to stop them from talking, anything. _

_"That's so...scandalous," Hazel said, looking appalled. Jason just stood there, not saying a word. I felt alone again. More insults were thrown my way. I couldn't take it anymore. I made the ground open around me and skeleton hands pulled them in. Screams of terror and horror filled the room and they all fell in. _

_"NICO!" I turned and saw Jason, barely hanging on._

_"You said they'd understand!" I accused. _

_"You didn't give them a chance!" He shot back. Then his grip slipped on the ground and he disappeared into the darkness. The ground closed and all that was left were the cracks of the ground around me. From the corner of my eye, I saw a figure, hiding by the door. I turned around quickly and saw Laurel, crying. Suddenly, I felt like I could control myself._

_"Laurel, I-" I started walking towards her._

_"Stay away from me!" She shrieked. I stopped. "You killed them."_

_"No...I..." What could I tell her?_

_"You're a monster," She whispered and ran._

_"No, wait! Laurel!" I screamed back. The cabin dissolved and I was in darkness again. I saw Laurel and a light following her like she was in a spotlight. "Laurel, don't leave!" I started running towards her, but she was too far away to reach._

* * *

I woke up, gasping for air.

"I can't go back," I said under my breath, " I just can't."

**Laurel**

I woke up, feeling drained. I had about three hours asleep because I kept thinking of what Zack said. I slowly got up and got dressed. When I went to the bathroom and ran into Zack, he just ignored me. That was not usual Zack behavior. He didn't insult me or tell me to watch it or anything. I brushed my teeth and went downstairs to the kitchen. Carol was cooking as usual, except she was humming to a song on the radio. Kevin was sitting at the table, drinking his coffee. I sat down next to Zack.

"Good morning, kids," Kevin smiled at us.

"Hey," we said.

"Here you go kids. Eat up," Carol handed us a plate of pancakes. I made a mental note to sneak some pancakes to the shed later. "Oh wait, go wash your hands, first."

Zack didn't even complain and just got up. I followed him and we washed our hands in silence.

"Hey," I said. He acted like I wasn't even there and went back to the kitchen. I sighed. There was something definitely wrong with him. I sat back down and I was so tired that I didn't even eat my pancakes.

"I wonder what it's going to be," Carol said happily.

"It's going to be a boy," Kevin answered.

"I wouldn't be too sure, honey."

"It's going to be a boy. I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure," she asked.

"Because I just am."

"How do you know you won't lose it like last time?" Zack muttered but everyone heard it. Kevin and Carol got quiet.

"Wait, what?" I asked, "What do you mean last time?" Kevin and Carol wouldn't look at me. They seemed to be suddenly interested in their food.

"Mom and Dad were going to have a baby a few months ago but they lost her," Zack continued, "Two months later, they adopted you."

"Zack, that's enough,' Carol said.

"What? Shouldn't Laurel know she's a replacement!?"

"Zack, go to your room," Kevin broke in. Zack glared at him, "Now." He got up and ran upstairs. I heard the door slam shut. I could feel the tension in the room and I felt like I was intruding in their privacy.

"I'll go talk to him," Kevin finally said and got up.

"You should both go talk to him," I spoke up. They looked at me. "I'll clean the table."

"It's fine, Laurel. You don't have to," Carol told me.

"It's okay, just go," I waved them off and they headed upstairs. I quickly picked up all the dishes and put them in the sink, but not before putting my uneaten pancakes in a Ziploc bag. I looked at the stairs to make sure no one was coming down and went outside to the shed.


	7. The Park Solves Everything, Or Not

**As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.**

**~Carl Jung **

* * *

**Nico**

"...so then I tell them to go talk to him because I think Zack needs to talk to his mom and dad." Laurel finished. I was trying to pay attention, but the pancakes were really good and I hadn't had any in a long time. I did manage to understand what Laurel was talking about, though.

"That's rough," was the only thing I could say since I was never really good at these kinds of situations.

"I'm worried about him," she continued, "What do you think I should do?"

"How am I suppose to know?"

"I don't know. I just thought it was worth a try to ask." Laurel shrugged.

"Well...I'm sure that Zane-"

"Zack," she corrected.

"Yeah, whatever. He and his parents will figure things out."

"Okay," Laurel got up and dusted herself off, "I better get inside before they come looking for me."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, go ahead. I'll just sit here, counting and rearranging these gardening tools." I pointed at the rusty and ancient devices.

"I'm sorry you don't have much to do Nico. Oh I know!" she exclaimed, "I'll convince Kevin and Carol that we should go to the park. Zack loves the park so they'll have to say yes!"

"Uh, and what am I going-"

"You can shadow teleport or whatever you do to the place we met and we'll see from there," Laurel finished.

"I don't know ab-" she didn't let me finish.

"Don't worry, Nico. When the car pulls out of the driveway, you'll know to go," she called at me as she ran back to the back door.

"But, Laurel! Wait!" I tried to call her back but she just ran back inside. I sighed. That girl never listened. I should just leave. If I stay here, monsters are sure to find me and then I'll be putting more people in danger. I'm actually surprised that there hasn't been a monster attack on this house yet. I had no choice but to go to the stupid park, but I'll go around town again just to make sure it's free of any dangerous monsters and demigods.

**Laurel**

I wasn't going to hear Nico's argument. He was going and that's final. Besides, it might be a good idea for Kevin and Carol and Zack to cool off. When I went back inside, I didn't see anyone in the living room. The house was strangely quiet. I wondered what happened? I slowly stepped on the stairs, trying not to make noise as I was going up. I saw that Kevin's and Carol's bedroom door was closed and I could hear voices inside. I usually minded my own business, but I couldn't help but listen as I edged closer to the door.

"...am I going to do with him?" It was Kevin's voice.

"I don't understand why he's acting like this," Carol said.

"He'll just have to adjust, one way or another." They were talking about Zack. How was I going to convince them to go to the park if they were all tensed up like this? I tip-toed to Zack's door. I wasn't sure if I should knock or just walk in. I decided to just open the door. Zack was in there, alright. He was under his covers, but when I opened the door, he popped his head out from under them and was about to shout when I put my finger on my mouth, signaling him that it was me and to be quiet.

He simply scowled at me and covered himself up again. I knelt beside his bed.

"Zack," I started, whispering so that Kevin and Carol couldn't here me.

"Get out."

"I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Well, I'm not, so leave."

"You don't have to be so rude. You're like 10!"

"I'm 9."

"I said 'like'. That's not the point. Look, you like the park, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't we go. I'm sure it'll make you feel better." Zack looked hesitant. "It'll be fun, come on?" I held out my hand towards him. After what felt like forever, he finally sighed and took it. I dragged him out with me to Kevin and Carol's room. I was going to open the door when Zack stopped me.

"Wait," he whispered, "What if they're mad at me?"

"It'll be okay. Just let me do the talking." I reassured him as I slightly opened the door and popped my head inside.

"Oh, Laurel. There you are," Carol wiped a tear from her eyes. Her face was flushed which meant that she had been crying, obviously.

"Um, I just wanted to ask...can we go to the park?"

"Oh, I don't think it's a good idea. Not today sweetie."

"But I think that the park will make everyone feel better. Zack wants to go." With that statement, I pulled Zack into the room with me. He didn't make eye contact with Kevin or Carol. I nudged with to get him to say something, but he stayed stilled, concentrating on the floor.

"Zack, do you want to go to the park?" Kevin asked him. Zack nodded slowly. After a few moments of silence, Kevin managed a smile, "Well, then. Kids, go put your shoes on. We're going to the park."

"Yes," I cheered and got out of there with Zack behind me.

"This isn't going to make everything better, you know?" He mumbled as we put on our shoes that were by the door.

"It might not make things better, but it's a start." He thought about it for a second and I could of sworn I saw him almost smile. "Don't worry, I'll beat you in the monkey bars."

"You wish!" I laughed at him. He loved to win and I didn't mind anymore if it made him feel better.

"Everyone, get in the car!" Kevin called as he made his way down the stairs with the keys in his hands.

* * *

Being at the park was so refreshing. The sun was high above the clear sky and I couldn't wait to see Nico. I'd have to slip unnoticed somehow, but I was small and fast. It wouldn't be too hard for me. Zack was still looking a little glum but as soon as he got on the playground equipment, he'd be running around like a monkey high on caffeine.

"Here we are," Kevin announced and Zack and I jumped out the car and raced towards the playground area.

"Kids, wait for us!" Carol called out but we ignored it and kept running. I started up the ladder to the slide, but took a quick glance at Kevin and Carol. They had found a bench to sit on to watch us play. _Dang it! How am I supposed to escape now?_ I thought. I pretended to be a carefree little girl while still looking out for Nico. I noticed that Kevin and Carol were talking to one of the neighborhood families. The were the Yu family. I knew they had two sons but I never talked to them. Zack was the one who usually played with them. I saw Nico next to the tree where I'd first seen him and ran towards him.

Halfway there, he looked alarmed and hid into the woods. I stopped running._ What's his problem_, I wondered. I looked around but all I saw were normal people at the park. There were two boys that looked like they were going around asking people something. One of them had curly black hair. He was about Nico's height and for some reason, he had a tool belt that I've seen construction workers wear, around his waist. The other one was taller by a few inches. He had straight black hair and they both seemed to be wearing matching orange t-shirts. The Latino boy noticed me starting and gave me a toothy grin, which made me giggle and I waved at him, a bit shyly.

I suddenly remembered Nico and went on my way into the woods. I looked around but there were only trees. I wandered where Nico could be when a pair o fhands grabbed me from behind and one of them went up to my mouth to muffle the scream that I let out as I tried to get away.

"Sh, relax, Laurel. It's me," I suddenly stopped fighting and pushed Nico's hands away.

"Why did you do that? Don't scare me like that!" I told him.

"Sorry," he muttered. He kept glancing behind the tree trunk.

"What are you looking for?' I asked as I took a look at the direction he was looking at. Nico pulled me back.

"Don't look! They might see you."

"Who?"

"The people that are looking for me." I didn't understand. Was Nico actually hiding from someone? He didn't look like that kind of person. I had been thinking of why he was running from in the first place. Did he do something bad? Was he really some kind of psychopath or something? I didn't really want to think of Nico as bad even if he did look like a troublemaker. I refused to believe it and I questioned myself. I didn't know who he was or from where he came from and here I was with the guy.

"Nico, why are you running?

"I have to."

"But why?"


	8. Aunt Demi AKA Trouble

**"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."**

**~Denis Waitley **

* * *

**Nico**

I didn't understand why Laurel was questioning me now. Should I try to explain to a six year old the complicated world of demigods? Maybe if I could simplify it enough for her tiny brain to understand...

"Okay, you want to know why I'm running?" I asked her. She nodded impatiently.

I sighed. I wondered if I was going to regret it later, "Fine, you want the truth? I'm-I'm not really human..." I waited for Laurel to think I was crazy. She kept staring at me blankly. I rolled my eyes. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Considering you have super powers, I kind of figured you weren't normal," Laurel noted.

"Superpowers?"

"What kind of normal person can travel through shadows? So what exactly are you?"

"Well, I am half human," I started feeling uncomfortable talking to a little girl about this. I've never really talked to anyone about this. "And I'm half...god."

"I know it's cool to shadow travel and everything, but you don't have to be so conceited."

"What? No, I really am half god. Have you ever heard of the Gods of Olympus. You know, Greek myths?"

"Wait, are you trying to tell that one of those Gods are your mom or dad?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh who is it?" This girl literally had too much energy in her system. She was jumping up and down again and clapping her hands. Honestly, she looked like she really needed to use the bathroom.

"I'm a son of...Hades..." As soon as I said it, she stopped jumping. Maybe it wasn't the best idea telling her I'm the son of the lord of the Underworld. She blinked a few times, probably still processing what I had just said. I started feeling uncomfortable again. What if she didn't want to help me now? What if she thought I was a freak and told me to go away? Okay, I couldn't deny that I was sort of a freak but still.

"Is Hades the God that rules the underworld?" she asked. I nodded, "And the guy that kidnapped another Goddess to be his wife?"

"Well in his defense, he didn't know how to talk to women at the time." Laurel started giggling. "What?"

"You should see your face right now! You look almost nervous. It's like you think I'm going to not like you anymore or something," She looked up at me, smiling. I remained silent. Her smile fell, "You were thinking that weren't you?"

"Can you blame me? Nobody likes a child of Hades," I told her, "You don't get it. The things I've gone through just because of who my father is." People thought I was different. They saw what I could do. I talked to the dead, I summoned ghosts, skeletons, you name it. Sure it was weird but that didn't give them a reason to avoid me. I felt my blood boil just by thinking of it. I noticed that my hands were clenched into fists. I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

Laurel shook her head, "It couldn't of been that-"

"How would you know?!" I snapped. Laurel jumped at my outburst. I looked away, "I'm sorry. It's just that I've lost so much and for what? Nothing. I'm just a loner. I left because nobody really needed me. I didn't belong there." I said too much. Laurel didn't need to know. I refused to look at her, afraid to see fear or disgust on her face. I didn't think I could stand seeing someone else give me the cold shoulder.

Suddenly I felt warmth embrace me. I looked down surprised that Laurel was actually hugging me. She was still small so her head barely made it past my stomach. I stood there just taking it in. I didn't know I should accept the hug. I've gotten used to the cold, the dark. I reminded myself not to get attached because whatever friendship we started, it would eventually end and I wasn't ready to come spiraling down in waves of emotions of pain and sadness. No matter what, you get hurt.

I gently grabbed her arms and unwrapped them from my waist. "Um, thanks." I mumbled. Laurel looked worried for a moment.

"Nico?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"It probably doesn't mean much, but I still think you're cool." Wait, me? Cool? I was about to ask her why. "Oh no, it looks like Kevin and Carol are looking for me. I'll just tell them I went to the bathroom. I'll see you back at the house." She quickly waved at me and hurried to the crowded playground. I simply stood there, watching her run to a tall blond man and woman. They (I assumed they were Kevin and Carol) looked worried but Laurel just smiled like nothing was wrong. That girl was a good actress.

_She thinks I'm cool_, I thought as I walked aimlessly through the woods to clear my head._ No one's ever told me that._ I felt a rare feeling. Something that I hadn't felt very often. I couldn't really place the name. Laurel might be annoying and talks too much but there's just something about her. I felt the corners of my lips twitch up just the slightest bit. I realized then that I felt happiness. Maybe, just maybe...

**Laurel**

We were heading home. Zack had really taken advantage of the park. He was still panting and sweating from the playground, a big smile plastered on his face.

"I still don't understand why it took you so long to come from the bathroom?" Carol asked, looking at me from the rear view mirror.

"Believe it or not, the bathrooms were full and I had to wait my turn." I explained. What was unbelievable the amount of trust they gave me when Zack was barely allowed to be anywhere alone.

"That was awesome! Laurel, you should've seen me climb the monkey bars, swing super high in the swings. I thought I was going to fly!" Zack babbled. Normally I would tell him to shut up, but seeing him the past days with a zombie expression, it was nice to see the change. Besides, I was too busy worrying about Nico. The whole 'I'm a son of Hades' bit was a lot to take in, but if I thought about it, it wasn't really that surprising. Maybe if I did something to show him that I was his friend, then maybe he wouldn't feel that bad anymore. And I could do something for Zack too. He also needed me, both of them did. Where they liked it or not.

* * *

"Come on. just one more," I muttered as I slipped the last yellow bead in the elastic string. I had been caught up in the past drama that I hadn't opened my friendship bracelet kit yet. I figured it was a good gift. Hopefully, Nico and Zack wouldn't think it was too girly. I had already made Zack's bracelet. It was orange since it was his favorite color. Four of the beads were green to spell his name. I was doing the same for Nico's except that I was using black for his name and the rest was yellow. I hoped that I made the bracelets big enough but the bracelets could stretch so I wasn't too worried about that.

I was picking up the extra beads when I heard the door bell ring. I didn't remember Carol mentioning guests. I looked at my clothes. A neon green shirt and shorts. I was okay, I guess. I put on Nico's and Zack's bracelets so I wouldn't lose them and headed downstairs. I stopped at the top of the stairs when I saw who it was. Aunt Demi. She wasn't my real aunt. She was Zack's aunt but Carol said I had to call her that.

Carol and Kevin were welcoming her in. I quickly hid behind the wall that was close to the stairs. Hopefully they hadn't seen me. "Kids! Come downstairs! Your aunt's here." Zack came out of his room and looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "It's Aunt Demi," I whispered. He groaned. Both of us had our differences but there was one thing we agreed on, Aunt Demi was trouble. She hated my guts ever since I got here, just because I was adopted. Zack hated her for different reasons. She liked to overly express her affection to him with sloppy kisses, strangling hugs and pinch his cheeks so hard they turn a dark shade of red.

"Kids!" Kevin called to us again. We both looked at each other. We had this sort of silent misunderstanding and we both walked down the stairs, side by side, awaiting the torture Aunt Demi was about to inflict on us.

"Good luck," I whispered to Zack.

"You too," he answered. We walked to the living room and there she was. Aunt Demi was a middle age woman. She always liked to wear tight clothes and a lot of make up. She'd dyed her hair a bright red that definitely didn't look good on her. She was always trying to look younger than she really was but it was obvious that she wasn't fooling anyone. Kevin liked to make jokes about Aunt Demi sometimes about her weird fixation with fur coats and Carol would get mad and tell us to stop laughing because it wasn't polite.

Today she was wearing a small leopard jacket, a very tight tank top that matched her hair and black jeans with black high heels that made me wonder why she hadn't fallen on her face yet. As usual she had gone overboard with the make up. She looked like she was dressed for an adult party. When she turned around, her face immediately lit up when she saw Zack. Completely ignoring me, she strode across the room, laughing to herself.

"Oh my God! Zack is that you?" she asked, "Look how big you've grown! Come here, give your Auntie Demi a big kiss!" I felt sick as poor Zack had to endure her pressing her lips on his face, leaving red marks all over his face.

"Aunt Demi, how nice to see you," Zack said in a bored tone but of course, Aunt Demi didn't seem to hear him and continued on questioning him about his life that she had missed after her last visit, which was just three weeks ago.

"Demi," Kevin interrupted her squabbling, "You remember Laurel, right?" Thanks a lot, Kevin, I thought as I got ready for what I knew was coming. I could see the happiness in her eye banish at the mention of my name, but she kept her smile on (it was totally fake) and looked at me for the first time. I smiled back at her, knowing that I had to be polite and not sink to her level.

"Hi," You can do it, Laurel. Just say it. "Aunt Demi." I wanted to puke. Aunt Demi sized me up for a moment. I extended my hand out and offered to shake hers. Being the jerk she was, she took her jacket off and almost shoved it at me.

"Aw, thanks sweetie," she squealed, "You're so nice to offer to take my jacket." She did that on purpose. I wanted so badly to just let the jacket drop on the floor, or even better, throw it back in her face and head back to my room but I remained calm. She gave me a smug smile. Aunt Demi was just waiting for me to lose it.

"You're welcome. I'll go hand this up," I turned on my heel and hanged the smelly jacket in a hanger and in the closet. This was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

**Don't worry people, Aunt Demi isn't a monster. She's actually a real person. My friend has an Aunt named Demetria so they call her Demi. The way my friend describes her...well you've read it. I just figured having a mean relative that doesn't like Laurel would be interesting.**

**-Angela R.**


	9. Zack's Definitely A Friend

**"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining; they just shine."**

**~Dwight L. Moody**

* * *

**Laurel**

"...and then I told the guy to fuck off," this was another one of Aunt Demi's gossip.

"Demi, please! The children are here," Carol reminded her. Everyone was sitting in the living room. Aunt Demi loved to judge everything when she got the chance. Zack and I made sure we were sitting the farthest from Aunt Demi and it wasn't just because her perfume was suffocating everyone in the room. Of course, it didn't take long before Aunt Demi grabbed Zack and made him sit next to her.

"Oh sorry, Carol. You know how I get when a babble," she chuckled. Aunt Demi was petting Zack like he was some kind of animal. "Carol, honey, you must really buy some sunblock for Zack. He's looking a bit tannish."

"That's how he is, Demi."

"Well, excuse me. Just trying to give you some advice so he doesn't get skin cancer or something," Kevin looked like he wanted to say something. If there was one thing that he didn't like was being told how to raise kids. "Oh Zack you've got your mom's eyes! Such a pretty shade of green. I could just take you home!" _Ugh, kill me now!_ I thought as I rolled my eyes. Actually, now that I was looking at him, Zack didn't look anything like Kevin or Carol. He had black hair. Kevin and Carol were blond. Zack wasn't pale either. In fact, the only thing that he had in common with Carol were his eyes. That was really odd.

"Anyway," Aunt Demi continued, "I came because I heard the big news. I can't believe you're pregnant!"

"Yeah, we found out-" Kevin was interrupted by Aunt Demi.

"I just can't believe that you guys are going to have another one. So are you going to take Lauren back now or what?" She was really pushing it now. I so badly wanted to just kick her or throw the glass of water at her, maybe then she'd melt and all my problems would be solved.

"Demi, not in front of the kids," Carol looked tense now, "We've had this conversation before."

"I'm sorry Carol but I still don't understand why you went ahead and adopted."

"Laurel, Zack. Go upstairs and watch some T.V. while we talk to Aunt Demi," Kevin smiled at us but I could tell that he was forcing himself. He didn't have to tell us twice. Just because I wanted to rub it in Aunt Demi's face, I got up, went up to her and Zack, and stuck my hand out to him.

"Come on, Zack. I thing SpongeBob's on," I told him. He didn't hesitate to take my hand and I pulled him away from the monster that was Carol's sister. I smiled at her, "Bye Auntie Demi," I emphasized. Before she could say anything, we bolted to the stairs.

"I think you got her angry," Zack whispered as we stood on top of the stairs.

"How do you know?"

"Because she tightened her hold on me when I grabbed your hand." I smiled. I felt pretty proud of myself. Aunt Demi really was a pain in my butt. I didn't understand how Carol, who was such a nice person, have a witch as a sister.

"You know they're probably talking about you," Zack reminded me.

"Probably. I still don't get why she hates me. You wanna spy on them?" I asked him.

"We could be like ninjas! We will have to be sneaky and quiet." We took it step by step going down. When we made it to the bottom, we got on out knees and started crawling to the living room. The couch that Aunt Demi was sitting on, was turned away from us. We sat right behind it and listened.

"I don't get why you don't like her, Demi." I heard Carol say.

"She's a foster child. Her parents left her for a reason. Besides, didn't the social worker warn you about how much trouble she got in?"

"That doesn't mean that we should just-" Aunt Demi really liked to interrupt Kevin.

"I get it. It's for a good cause blah blah blah. But now you have a baby on the way. There's no need to have her around."

"Demi! We adopted Laurel beca-"

"You adopted her because you had a miscarriage, Carol." Aunt Demi said firmly, "You were going through a lot of emotional stress, I get it, but adopting wasn't going to replace the kid you lost." I was shaking, I knew I was. It wasn't because I was cold. I was angry. What did Aunt Demi know about my parents? She had no idea and still has the nerve to talk about me like I'm some kind of criminal.

"Laurel...?" I almost forgot Zack was beside me. I looked up at him, tears threatening to fall from my eyes. I blinked the tears away because I didn't want anyone to see me cry. For the first time since I got here, Zack actually looked worried for me. "Let's go," He spoke softly and gently nudged me towards the stairs. I nodded and we crawled away from the disputing adults.

* * *

We were in Zack's room. He didn't want me to leave him after what we'd heard because he thought that I needed comfort or something. I was grateful and everything but all I wanted was to be left alone. I tried to tell Zack that but you couldn't say no to him.

"Here, Laurel. Sit here and I'll turn on the TV," He made me sit in front of his TV and turned it on. The screen showed SpongeBob and Squidward at the Krusty Krab and it was night. "Look, it's your favorite episode, Graveyard Shift." Zack quickly sat down by my side. I really liked the show but I wasn't really in the mood. I was so down that I didn't even laugh at my favorite part where SpongeBob tells Squidward that he used his clarinet to unclog his toilet.

"Laurel, you shouldn't care what Aunt Demi said," Zack advised. I stared at my hands on my lap.

"Sorry, it's just that...she's really mean."

"Yeah but at least she doesn't try to squeeze your lungs out." I chuckled at the comment but I didn't feel better. Zack sighed and thought for a moment. He got up and went to his bed. I started twiddling my thumbs. He came back with Jacob, his stuffed cat. "Uh, Laurel? I know that it probably won't help but when I feel bad, I hug Jacob. He makes me feel better. Try it." I looked at the old cat for a second then at Zack. Was he really being serious? I took the cat from him and gave it a hug so I didn't make Zack feel bad. I felt kind of silly doing this and having Zack look at me expectantly. He probably really believed that this cat made me feel better.

I started giggling. "What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm just happy that you're trying to cheer me up. Thanks Zack," I smiled. I still didn't think it was genuine enough. It needed to be something more to show him that I really appreciated it. My mom always said that kisses showed how much you cared for someone. _What the heck_, I thought.

"Well, glad you're not sad anymore," Zack beamed.

"But seriously, I'm really thankful, Zack," I leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. He looked shocked that I did that and his cheeks started getting a reddish hue.

"Uh...you-you're welcome," He quavered. I raised an eyebrow. Why was he acting weird now? Carol kissed him all the time. I shrugged it off because it was actually a little funny. I remembered the friendship bracelet I was still wearing.

"Oh, I have something for you!" I took off the orange bracelet. "Here, I made it for you." He still didn't look very focused. I rolled my eyes. I grabbed his hand and slipped the bracelet on his wrist.

"Thanks," He managed. Then I heard the door open. I turned to see who it was.

"Oh hi kids," Aunt Demi strode in the room like she lived here. What was she doing here? I didn't want to be near her and decided to just leave.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I excused myself and hurried out the door. As soon as I closed the door, a thought stopped me from running to my room. _What and why was she in Zack's room?_ I slowly opened the door again and through the crack, I could hear them.

"I'm glad she's gone," Aunt Demi smirked, "Anyway, I came to see how you were doing up here and to make sure you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Because I don't trust that girl for a second. There's something fishy about her, Zack. If I were you, I wouldn't put my guard down."

"I don't think that she's dangerous." Aunt Demi looked at Zack, disbelief written all over her face.

"She's gotten to you too, I see. Zack, what happened? I thought you didn't like her either." I opened the door a little more. She was just here to talk bad about me some more. Kevin and Carol had probably already had enough of it.

"Laurel's a nice person, Aunt Demi. You just need to give her a chance," Zack insisted but she shook her head.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Zachary. I thought you had more sense than your parents but apparently I was wrong."

"Stop it!" Zack snapped. Aunt Demi almost flinched. "Stop talking bad about Laurel. She never did anything to you so you have no reason to be mean." Aunt Demi's face hardened.

"If that's how you feel then I'll be going," Aunt Demi straightened herself up and swiftly walked and swung the door open. I didn't have enough time to hide and her expression turned cold. "You." The way she said it, it made me want to run and hide under my covers. "You think you have everyone under your thumb, don't you? Well you don't fool me. I know you're trouble and when they realize I'm right, they'll be sorry they didn't listen to me." I didn't turn around but I heard her heels as she made her way down to the front door. Kevin and Carol were probably saying their goodbyes or something.

I looked at Zack, "Thanks for sticking up for me."

He waved it off, "It was nothing. She was getting really annoying." He yawned, "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Good night, Laurel." He told me as he headed for the bathroom. As he passed me, his shoulder brushed past mine. My stomach churned a bit. I thought that was weird. I concluded that I was just hungry and went to the kitchen to eat some cereal before going to bed.

* * *

**I didn't plan it, really, but I'm starting to ship Zack X Laurel :) I can't exactly do anything about that but that doesn't mean that Laurel can't be totally confused about it ^_^**


	10. Acts A Lot Like A Sister

**"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."**

**~Aristotle Onassis **

* * *

**Nico**

_Where am I? I looked around, but saw barely nothing, just outlines. I had a sickening feeling. The room seemed to be closing in and I started panicking. I quickly got up, coughing. It felt like there was barely any air and it felt disturbingly familiar. I ran to my left but hit a wall. What was going on? I circled around and finally came to a horrible conclusion. I was back in the jar. My heart rate sped up at the sudden realization. I started trembling. I couldn't be in here again! I tried to jump for the lid but it was just out of my reach. My lungs started aching at the lack of oxygen. There was something different about this jar. The air around me wasn't like before. I gagged at the choking atmosphere. Poison gas..._

_My hands immediately went up to my neck, trying to stop the pain that was becoming almost unbearable. Then the jar lit up instantly. Was it gone? No, I was still choking. That's when I became aware that there were people surrounding me. I recognized the Seven and campers from Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter. I tried to walk towards Hazel, but an invisible force blocked me. The jar had become transparent. I tried to talk but the throbbing pain in my throat stopped me. My eyes stung and my vision blurred._

_The demigods just outside my prison looked like they were shouting and my guess was that it was me. They didn't look worried or scared but rather almost determined and angry. I couldn't hear what they were saying because the jar was still tightly closed but I probably wouldn't of even heard them. My head felt like someone had hit it with a hammer and I crippled to the ground. The visions of the blood-thirsty demigods became more blurry and more distant. I vaguely felt someone shake my shoulder as I felt myself slipping away. _

* * *

I jolted up from the floor of the shed. I took in deep gulps of fresh air. My eyes stung at the cold air and my face felt wet. I slightly touched my cheek. Had I been crying?

"Nico?" I whirled my head to the weak whisper that was barely audible. I reached for my sword when a flashlight illuminated the dark room. Laurel was kneeling beside me in her pajamas. She looked worried and maybe scared but I couldn't be sure. I felt myself shaking again, still freaked out from that nightmare. I didn't say anything, afraid that I wouldn't have enough oxygen to use like I was still in that dreaded jar. Laurel didn't waste any time to comfort me. She dropped the flashlight in her hands and wrapped her arms around my neck and pull me into a hug. I didn't even hesitate to cling to her, trying to stop quivering.

"Don't worry, Nico," Laurel assured me, "It was just a bad dream. Dreams aren't real." I couldn't help but remember that demigod dreams weren't just normal dreams. Just the thought of that nightmare becoming true, filled my body with pure terror, but I managed to control myself. I tried to choke back a sob but that tears trailed down my face anyway and I finally gave in. I stopped fighting the wave of emotions churning inside me and just broke down completely. I buried my face in Laurel's neck, actually glad for the company. For her part, Laurel gently rubbed my back and whispered soothing words. At that moment, I finally truly understood how much Laurel's presence meant to me. To me, she felt frail, which was ironic considering I was the one crying while she tried to make me feel better.

I wasn't paying too much attention to what she was telling me. I was too busy holding on tight to her, appreciating how warm she was. I calmed down enough to stop crying. Laurel pulled away from me, making me feel empty and lonely again. She smiled at me.

"It must've been a very scary dream," she observed, "Good thing I decided to come check up on you."

"Laurel...I-I..." I didn't exactly know how to tell her, explain to her what I dreamt.

"It's okay. You don't always have to be the tough, emotionless guy." I looked up at her. The way she looked at me, so kind and innocent, made me want to believe anything she said. At least it was better than my past nightmares and, ultimately, my whole life. Maybe I didn't have to go to Italy alone and- No, what was I thinking? I couldn't just take Laurel away from here. She actually had a chance at a happy life. It was too late for me, but she was still young and full of life. Besides, it was better to be alone. No responsibilities, no betrayals, no fights. I had to stick with the plan, but I had to hurry up and tell her about her mom soon or I might do something I'll regret.

"Nico?" Laurel waved her hand in front of my face, " You zoned out a little there."

"Sorry," I muttered, dropping my gaze from her hazel eyes.

"As long as you're okay, I'm fine." Why did she have to be so nice and likable? "If you want, I'll stay with you, tonight." That got my attention.

"No, it's okay," my voice cracked. I cursed myself for crying so much.

"I don't mind. I'll go get my sleeping bag!" She stated and jumped up.

"Laurel, you don't-" But like always, she didn't listen and was out the door before I could protest even further. I sighed, exasperated. Without Laurel in here anymore, the place felt colder and darker almost. It was as if she was herself, a small ray of sunshine. The thought helped soothe my uneasiness in the shed that I feared would suddenly turn into the jar and asphyxiate me.

I must've seriously been traumatized or something because as soon as Laurel came in the room, I wanted to hug her again, but I controlled myself this time. I didn't want to just act on impulse again.

"I went to the basement," she shuddered, "Never doing that again. Anyway, I found an extra sleeping bag. I don't know who's it is but it's clean. I checked." I nodded and took the red colored sleeping bag. I noticed that was all she brought.

"Where's yours?" I asked her. She turned a bit red and didn't meet my eyes.

"I was thinking that maybe we could share the sleeping bag..." She trailed off at the end. I stood there for a second, not sure how to react. It wouldn't hurt, right? It was only for tonight anyway.

"Fine," I said, making sure I sounded a bit annoyed, trying to hold on to the idea of keeping her at arm's length, which seemed to have become very hard to do. I laid out the sleeping bag on the floor. It looked big enough for both of us to fit. I folded the green blanket to use as a pillow and looked at Laurel, expectantly. She slowly walked to me and sat down on her side, taking off her thin, yellow sweater and throwing it to a corner. I chuckled a bit at her. Laurel smiled, probably happy that she made me laugh a little and patted the space beside her. I crawled to my spot and zipped the sleeping bag all the way. It wasn't as uncomfortable as I was expecting.

"Nico, why are you so cold?" She asked.

"I don't know..." I definitely wasn't a good source for warmth. Laurel, on the other hand, radiated a lot of heat, so I wasn't sure why she was complaining.

"Here," she made me lay on my side and turned herself away from me. I didn't know what she was planning on doing until she grabbed my arm and put it on her waist. The sudden contact made me blush. I've never actually been this close to someone in a long time. I wanted to tell her that maybe it wasn't a good idea, but I hesitated too long and soon, I heard her soft breathing, indicating she was asleep.

I relaxed because it was just a simple gesture. It didn't mean anything. Unconsiously, I pulled her closer as I became sleepier. I tried to stay up since I didn't want to have another nightmare, but the warmth and Laurel being here, along with the fact that I had somewhere much more comfortable to sleep in got the better of me and soon I closed my eyes and dozed off. I somehow knew that I wasn't going to have anymore bad dreams the rest of the night.

* * *

**I thought I should put some nice Nico/Laurel bonding and what better way than to have Laurel comfort Nico after he dreams of a traumatic experience. **

**-Angela R.**


End file.
